The pools of vision were warm. He could see the moisture wafting up in great billows of steam, swirling in the air and drifting lazily. He stood watching the effects of the warmth. The mushrooms loved the damp dimness, and the mysterious caverns were lit solely from the glowing waters.

Being in the earth suited him.

He sighed again as his patience wore thin yet another time and he shifted his weight, eager to be moving, to be DOING something. The lithe tauren lady kneeling in front of him tsked in response, her large hand grabbing on his belt to keep him still.

He frowned.

Her hand was covered in goo: the dark fluid that was what old blood turned into after years of disuse and stagnation, bits of loose flesh and other matter. It matted in her gray fur rather grotesquely. He looked on with mild interest as the woman concentrated on her sewing.

Bored again, he resolved to leave Thunder Bluff for vacation as soon as he was able. After all, being sliced in half during a hostile takeover wasn't exactly a thing that made one want to linger, even if as an undead it wasn't exactly a fatal event.

The woman stitching him up was fast, he had to admit. He saw her arm moving tirelessly, close with the needle, then away pulling the thread taut, back in for another stitch. She was a lot better than any Forsaken would have been. They, being also dead, tended to repair people as if they were just cobbling together another abomination, where the workmanship hardly mattered. Who cared if a giant piecemeal zombie actually looked good? They were meat-shields, cannon fodder. Powerful, yes, but part of their strength was sheer mass, and they didn't necessarily have to survive whatever battle they were thrown into. This was a tedious endeavor, one which he didn't particularly want to have to repeat often due to shoddy sewing.

He'd rather not fall apart.

He watched the woman sewing, noticing how she would switch the knee she was putting weight on every so often, would sometimes pause to shake out the muscles in her arm. Her breath puffed out, sometimes stirring the mist around them, but he couldn't feel it. Other than reflexive movements, such as the rhythmic and useless rise and fall of his chest, and the blinking of his eyes, he stood stock still, simply waiting.

He didn't feel the needle, the warm air. Nothing.

No discomfort.

But no pleasurable sensations either. He could sense pressure, but remembering was not the same as experiencing. Ever time the woman made a normal movement to ease one discomfort or another, it reminded him that he had none.

He was Forsaken. He was dead. Technically.

He resisted the urge to move, waiting for the woman to finish her stitching.

Never made it as a wise manI couldn't cut it asA poor man stealingTired of living like a blind manI'm sick of sight withoutA sense of feelingAnd this is how you remind me

This is how you remind meOf what I really am[x2]

[chorus]It's not like you to say sorryI was waiting on a different storyThis time I'm mistakenFor handing youA heart worth breakingAnd I've been wrongI've been downInto the bottom of every bottleThese five words in my headScreamAre we having fun yet?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no no [x2]

It's not like you didn't know thatI said I love you andI swear I still doAnd it must have been so badCause living with him must haveDamn near killed you

And this is how you remind meOf what I really am[x2]

[chorus]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no no [x4]

Never made it as a wise manI couldn't cut it asA poor man stealingAnd this is how you remind meThis is how you remind me

This is how you remind meOf what I really am[x2]

[chorus]

Yeah, yeahAre we having fun yet?Yeah, yeahAre we having fun yet?Yeah, yeahAre we having fun yet?Yeah, yeah, no, no

The tent flap whispered, leather against leather, and Agiga pretended to sleep. The sound of her mother's movements were nearly drowned out by the thundering of her heart as she tried to lay still. She could not stop the tears that still leaked from her eyes. She knew her mother grieved as well, but hers was an inward suffering. Agiga had too much to be sorry for to keep it contained inside, and so she did not even bother trying.

It was all her fault.

Agiga had done her best to make the Elders see. She'd tried so hard, and yet it didn't seem to matter. Even with as much fore-warning as she could give, the centaur had decimated their camp. Her friends were slaughtered, her teacher had been mortally wounded with a number of others, and her family had been ripped in half.

Kerala really had believed Agiga when she'd told about the dreams. And she had interpreted the warning in the visions, in a way that Agiga hadn't meant. She should have kept everything inside, to herself. Maybe it would have been better for them all to all die together. This hurt so much. Or, maybe the visions were false and they would not have died. It was true that nothing had occurred the way it had in any of her dreams.

The timing.

The timing was the only thing right. Both eyes of the Earth Mother had been there in the sky, Her full gaze upon them as Her children were slaughtered. Agiga wondered why they were being punished so.

She'd tried so hard.

She'd visited all the Braves, bringing them extra breads that she'd baked so she could be sure they were strong. She'd secretly tested the edges of their weapons, and asked the smith to sharpen a few. She'd cared for the animals. Her visions had indicated that the kodos did more damage to the centaur than to her people. So she'd weakened the leads, to make it easier for them to break free and stampede. She'd made sure every night that her father's armor was clean and in good repair, that it was laid out neatly for him and in easy reach. The sense that each passing hour would be the last was overwhelming, as if the slow journey of An'she and Mu'sha each day measured out the very minutes of life.

Mostly, those were things she did anyway, but she took extra care about them. Maybe that was why, now, with a hole in her heart, it felt like she'd done nothing at all. She'd wasted it all.

Agiga squeezed her eyes shut tighter, desperately quelling the sob that sought to rip its way out of her. She already had the blanket wrapped tightly around her, had herself balled as compactly as possible, but still she tried to compress herself further. She could not hug herself enough to drown out the feeling of a vast empty void of air behind her, cold and empty where her sister normally slept.

Her mother was finally on her own mat, and Agiga heard the rustling of furs and blankets. For an instant, she wanted to throw off her covering and run to cuddle against her mother as if she was still a little calfling with a nightmare. She wasn't sure if her mother knew that it was Agiga's fault that her husband and daughter would probably be eaten by centaurs. Agiga stayed on her own mat.

Kerala.

Kerala was as unlike Agiga as any person could be. They shared parents, and they were both female, but there the similarity ended. The twins were like day and night. Agiga was slim and willowy, while Kerala had always been larger and muscular. Agiga had fur that many called silver, smooth and soft. Kerala's coat was crinkly curly, every color of brown all thrown together and mixed and chaotic. Agiga thought her sister looked wild and exciting. She was funny and brave and always thought of interesting things to see and do. Agiga was timid, shy, and she always said the wrong thing. She complained, but really she'd enjoyed being dragged along behind her sister on adventures. Kerala was just as smart as Agiga, but her knowledge seemed effortless, intuitive. Agiga would have to study when Kerala could just spend all her time outside playing and still be able to recite all the lessons.

Agiga wished now that they hadn't fought so much. They'd teased each other, mutually, about everything. Usually Agiga was the one that stopped when Ma told them to, but it was hard. Kerala liked to pinch her. Agiga would flip her hair at her sister, because she knew Kerala was jealous. Kerala would throw dirt at her, and she would tattle about the thing Kerala broke, or the mess she'd made. They just didn't get along, and Agiga wished that they had.

Kerala, in her typical manner, had acted without thinking. Or maybe she HAD thought. Maybe she'd known what she was doing, and that made it even worse.

Kerala had disobeyed. The centaur had been overrunning the camp. They were everywhere, and their family was gathered with the others in a ring in the middle of camp, as everyone tried to stick together. The Braves were fighting so hard, but it was clear that they would lose. Agiga didn't know that much about fighting, but it made sense to her when the Elders ordered a retreat. They couldn't stay here. And like she'd heard so many times already, her father had bellowed the order to run.

Kerala did run.In the wrong direction.

She'd leaped from the ring with her spear, her hooves flying faster than Agiga had ever seen her run. She evaded the grabbing hands of her family and the Braves alike, slipping through the lines. She'd skewered a hyena without pausing, and then she dodged its packrunner. The centaur had fallen to the blades of a few Braves in the seconds it took to wonder at a child attacking alone.

Agiga had screamed, felt her sisters fur snatch through her fingers. The elders didn't hesitate, but pushed everyone to the retreat. A few Hunters had abandoned them to join what was quickly becoming a large diversion. Da stayed behind too, sending Agiga and her mother with the rest without a backward glance. He was chasing after Kerala, the Hunters pressing their attack with precision. Centaur fell ahead of and to either side around Agiga's sister. Kerala was evading everything she could, was stabbing at anything that came within reach.

Before she was dragged back, Agiga saw Kerala lose the spear. The point had lodged between the ribs of the gigantic barbarian. There was no time to evade his charge. Kerala looked so tiny in front of him! Her aim had been true, though. The enemy was dying as Kerala scrambled past. He hit the ground, the spear jutting from the left side of his chest, pulsing as a pool slowly spread beneath him. It was the last thing Agiga had seen. That and the broad back of her father as the men followed her sister.

Feathers trailing the arrowhead.

Agiga's nightmares were no longer prophetic. They were damning, and painful, but not visions of things to come. Visions of things that had happened. Twists to a theme, creative renditions of events. Loss on re-play. No matter which way she turned it, her mind came up with the same conclusion.

In the end, it all came back to her. Her fault.

It starts with one thing I don't know whyIt doesn't even matter how hard you try Keep that in mind I designed this rhymeTo explain in due timeAll I knowTime is a valuable thingWatch it fly by as the pendulum swingsWatch it count down to the end of the dayThe clock ticks life away

It's so unrealDidn't look out belowWatch the time go right out the windowTrying to hold on, but you didn't even knowI wasted it all just to watch you goI kept everything inside And even though I tried, it all fell apartWhat it meant to me Will eventually be a memory of a time when

[chorus]I tried so hard And got so far But in the end It doesn't even matter I had to fall To lose it all But in the end It doesn't even matter

One thing, I don't know whyIt doesn't even matter how hard you try, Keep that in mind I designed this rhyme, To remind myself of a time whenI tried so hardIn spite of the way you were mocking meActing like I was part of your propertyRemembering all the times you fought with meI'm surprised it got soThings aren't the way they were beforeYou wouldn't even recognize me anymoreNot that you knew me back thenBut it all comes back to me in the endI kept everything inside And even though I tried, it all fell apartWhat it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when

[chorus]

I've put my trust in youPushed as far as I can goFor all thisThere's only one thing you should know [x2]

The world slowly spun by, and Kerala watched it all. Every so often, a stronger gust of wind would hit her broadside as she turned, threatening to knock her off the top of the mill. Her claws were sunk deep into the hard wood, however, and the ruffling of her feathers was only mildly unpleasant.

She was perched on a slowly rotating contraption, high in the air atop a pole with wings. The breezes would catch the leather stretched out on its frame, to make the whole thing spin. Kerala could feel vibrations occasionally from below, where she knew that two specially-carved stones would be rolling over piles of corn in the rock-hewn bowl they nested into. There were many such leather-winged mills spinning slowly like odd flowers in this, the city of her people.

It was amazing, she thought. And scary. There were so many people.

In her lifetime, the tauren might gather in mobile caravans consisting of three or four small families. They would travel following the herds, simply hunting, enjoying life and each other. If one family wanted to go, they would. She knew there were times that many would gather in the sacred places, to celebrate, reunite, and trade. But Kerala did not remember ever having been to one. Here, she was looking down on so many people, it was a bit unnerving.

The city was... impressive. Built atop the spire plateaus of Mulgore, it was at once compact, and yet open and airy, as there were multiple rises connected by massive suspended bridges connected to giant buildings on each side of the gaps they spanned. The architecture was amazing. In the center of the city was a gigantic hollow totem, In its top was an opening through which wind riders could come and go, with a large net hung out from the edge to catch the young inexperienced fliers or fatigued beasts. Kerala remembered her child self dreaming of visiting the Thousand Needles where the fantastic flying beasts were raised.

In addition to the spirally tower-totem and the mills and bride-houses, there were the lifts. Two of them, a marvel of creation. The mechanism to explain the effortless rising and falling of the twin platforms was likely hidden in the tall pole that supported them from the top. Kerala hadn't had the nerve to ride one up to the city proper, not knowing what she would see when she arrived at the top. Instead, she was hiding. A bird perched above her own people, spying on them.

She felt like such an outsider. A stranger. She did not belong here.

She watched the top of the baker's head as the woman deftly scooped corn mash from between the rolling stones. The amount she was able to get in such a short while was staggering, being several hours-worth of work by hand. Kerala heard her whisper a prayer to the Earth Mother as she worked. She gave thanks for the bounty before her, and expressed the hope that bread made from this grain would nourish and sustain the Children in their pursuits. It was an automatic gesture, sure, but Kerala heard sincerity behind the rote words as well.

She could not remember the last time she had spoken to, or even thought, of the Earth Mother.

The smells of fresh bread wafted up through the open vent of the baker's mill building. It caused Kerala's stomach to rumble. She had not eaten lately. Maybe it was yesterday? The mild sensation of being hungry helped to calm her nerves, which were frayed to say the least. Eventually, she'd have to go down and meet people. Eventually, her lack of knowledge and crude mannerisms would be known. She did not want to just go and find a cave somewhere to live out the rest of her life (although she had plans to find such a home later). She was a chaotic mess of confusion since she'd woken in the Cenarion wildlands, but she did know some things.

She needed time. Maybe a lot of time, to adjust to this new life. She knew she did not want to be alone. She knew that she wanted to know more about the abilities she had- not only to change her shape, but also to heal.

And she wanted to find the Horns.

Kerala remembered the old shaman she'd met so briefly. The woman had been so old she could hardly see, and yet Kerala heard rumors that the woman had successfully thwarted the Magram's raid on her small caravan to the Graveyard outpost. It was from that poor woman that Kerala had heard stories about the Horns, had learned of the Skytotem tribe of healers, and dreamed that one day she would become a person like that, someone important, who could help people.

Yet, faced with the real world beyond the spear wall and tunnels she'd known, Kerala was lost. There was so much! So much to see, so many decisions to make. People to meet, to talk to. To learn from. She was finding out many unpleasant truths about herself before she even began- namely that she was a coward. Being brave when there was no other option was easy. It was being brave now, when there was no obvious enemy, no clear path to choose, that was difficult. She didn't like the crowds, the activity going on constantly in every direction. It was overwhelming after being alone for so long.

Kerala decided that she would have to just go slowly. She didn't have to jump into the middle of everything. She could stay outside it for a while. Find a home. Explore.

Search for the Horns.

The woman had told such stories! Of battles fought together, of a great tower they'd laid siege to, of a whole new world they'd explored. The Horns were the best of their people, the warriors, the healers, the heroes. Not exactly a formal group, it was a gathering of many for the good of all. The idea of such a group stayed with Kerala long after the old shaman had died. Surely if such a group existed, they would be the ones to finally rescue her. Eventually she realized the silliness of that farfetched hope, but it had sustained her through most of a hard year. The Horns and the Skytotem tribe were so far away, and yet, it was something to work for, something to do if she ever DID manage to get away.

And so, Kerala found herself staring down at a city filled with strangers.

She was terrified, but she was also good at hiding it. She was sure that when she was ready, she could pass as one of them, if she watched them long enough. She would say the praises to the Earth Mother again, as if she believed them. She would go out and find these Horns, and join them. She'd find out how to heal and she would help people. Her life to now had been useless. Kerala did not intend to waste the rest of it.

Who's to know if your soul will fade at allThe one you sold to fool the worldYou lost your self-esteem along the wayYeah

[chorus]Good god your comin' up with reasonsGood god your dragging it outGood god its the changing of the seasonsI feel so rapedSo follow me downAnd just fake it if your out of directionFake it if you don't belongFake it if you feel like a infectionWoah your such a fuckin' hypocrite

And you should know that the lies wont hide your fallsNo sense in hiding all of yoursYou gave up on your dreams along the wayYeah

[chorus]

Whoah whoah

I can fake with the best of anyoneI can fake with the best of em allI can fake with the best of anyoneI can fake it all

Who's to know if your soul will fade at allThe one you sold to fool the worldYou lost your self-esteem along the wayYeah

[chorus]

Fake it if your out of directionFake it if you don't belongFake it if you feel like a infectionWoah your such a fuckin' hypocrite

The sun glared down, a baleful eye with a relentless gaze. The heat was stifling, waves of shimmer rising from the dry dirt that puffed up with each footstep and stuck to everything. There was no breeze today at all beneath that glowering orb.

Even if there had been a gust of wind, Kerala was sure it wouldn't reach her. She stood in a shallow depression surrounded on all sides by the press of stinking horseflesh. Flank to flank, they ringed the shallow bowl. Many carried spears that were held at the ready, but many more were present solely for the sport of the event. She stood quietly, listening to the flies buzz around. This was a familiar spot to her, one that she stood in at least once weekly. The depression was actually part of the pond where the Magram made their home, but this section was always the first to dry out. For most of the year, it was her fighting arena. She wondered what sort of beast she would fight today, or if maybe she'd get a chance to kill a horseman.

Kerala waited patiently, and soon enough the ring of centaur surrounding her parted. A troupe of horse-men were driving TWO scorpids before them. The animals were heavily armored in plates of hardened shell, with two large pincher claws each and of course, the deadly poisoned tails. They were enraged, trying many times to attack the centaur driving them. One horseman wielded his spear one-handed, the other arm hanging limp with a large puncture wound in his bicep. He was either very stupid, or the scorpids had a bigger reach than it appeared.

Kerala palmed the spear she was allowed, grateful to have a reach weapon for this.

The scorpids were driven into the circle, one attempting to escape immediately. It was repelled by the centaur of that section, who tried to turn it toward Kerala. The larger scorpid, it's eyes beady and mouthparts twitching, came right in her direction.

Kerala leveled the spear at it, keeping the point between her and it's face.

It had two large mandibles, like upside-down fangs, jutting from a mouth that looked like it had actual teeth. Kerala counted three nostrils, one large one centered above the mouth, and two others next to each round eye. Or maybe those were spots? It was difficult to tell, but the way the thing was utterly focused on her, she rather thought it must have a keen sense of smell.

Kerala stepped sideways, away from the small scorpid who was thankfully still rushing the edges of the ring, noting how the larger one turned in place to keep her directly in front of it. The armor it had was in very large plates that angled down and forward. The beast would be almost invincible from the front. Still, it had many legs, and they required a bit of shuffling to turn...

Kerala thrust her spear at the beast, testing.

The scorpid swiped an oversized claw faster than she expected and almost had the spear. The tail was poised also, suddenly stiff and held more forward ready to strike. Kerala noted a tiny ridge of small hairs along the top of each claw arm, the sides of the tail, and along the undersides of all six legs.

Seeing that the other scorpion was getting increasingly frustrated in its attempts to escape the ring, Kerala knew she'd have to act fast or the battle would be two against one. The scorpid's patience must have expired then.

The creature exploded into motion, rushing forward on rippling legs. It advanced claws-first, the crushing pincers held open and ready to snap closed. Kerala dove to the side, rolling. She snatched a handful of dirt and threw it in the scorpid's face.

The scorpid hissed, an incredibly loud sound that made all of Kerala's fur stand on end. It swiped blindly with it's claws, snapping wide at empty air as she scrambled to her feet again.

THWAP! THWAP!

The deadly tail whipped through air twice, stabbing. It had been aimed center while those claws snapped wide, making for a very large area that Kerala was still dancing to avoid as the creature continued advancing unerringly.

So much for that plan. She'd been hoping that the foul dirt, tainted with centaur, would confuse the thing's sense of smell. Obviously its other senses were more than up to task of compensating.

Kerala retreated around the scorpid. She stayed near the right claw, leading the beast in a circle. She stabbed at the legs with the spear, not trying to hit them, but rather to foul their motion.

The scorpid hissed again at her. An answering hiss came from behind Kerala. The smaller scorpid was now in the fight.

Kerala stopped circling and ran at the biggest scorpid, her spear still under it from a jab. The middle leg, trying to step backward to continue turning the beast, finally hit the spear and fouled. The front leg quickly following crossed over the fouled leg pinned against the spear. The scorpid swung its right claw, but Kerala was beyond its reach, too far on the side of it. At the legs now, she bent and lifted.

SREEWOOSH!

The bulbous stinger on the scorpid's tail actually scraped along the hump of Kerala's neck as it retracted. Only the fact that she was hunched down lifting and tilting the creature had saved her from being stung. She was certain a second strike would be true and she put all her effort into moving the shaft of her spear upward.

The scorpid was frantically trying to sidestep off the rising spear, but its three left legs were now mostly baring it's weight. Incredibly fast at moving forward and backward, the legs were too slow to move inward and outward. The limbs could not move fast enough, and the scorpid fell sideways.

Kerala gave a mighty shove, and the beast toppled onto it's back, flailing. The deadly tail thrashed, trying to right the beast as Kerala fell atop it, using her weight to keep the thing pinned. She took several fierce jabs and many shallow cuts from the legs as they sought to find enough purchase against her to throw her off.

Kerala brought her spear up and stabbed hard at the scorpid's relatively soft belly. The spear struck the scaly underside of the scorpid, the stone point sliding until it hit a crease, then suddenly popping through the exoskeleton with a squelching sound. She twisted the spear, savagely stirred once. The legs convulsed around her, one of the hard tips stabbing into her back. Kerala released the shaft certain that she could not remove the weapon without leaving the wide spearhead behind inside the beast. Maybe it would keep the thing from being able to right itself. Hopefully she'd done enough damage to it to kill it.

Kerala's vision suddenly dimmed at the same time that she felt a blazing pain spreading. She was on fire! Kerala could not help the scream that escaped her as she scrambled off the scorpid, her thoughts literally of flames and of rolling in the sand to put it out. A brief tug, though, felt through the pain, was just odd enough to catch her attention. She turned to look as she fell onto her back.

The scorpid was definitely dying, it's motions now only twitches. The movement that caught her eye, though, was the spasmadic clutching of the tail, curled sideways and lying atop the creature's belly. The tip was bloody, and venom still leaked from it in random pulses. She viewed it a dim grayscale, with bright spots of light exploding and dying all around. In brief glimpses through eyes that wanted only to clench tight against the burning inside.

The sound of centaur around her finally registered as well. The were cheering. Laughing. Hissing in imitation of the scorpid. She saw that a few were even making pinch-claw motions with their hands.

Finally, Kerala felt within her a certain spark. It was hotter than the venom that burned her now, and it flared to life drowning the pain. Kerala yelled again, with fury more than pain, enraged further still when this only caused the assembled crowd to cheer in earnest. THIS was what they had come to see.

Kerala wished she knew how to invoke this.

The second scorpid had clambered around the body of it's dead companion to attack. It didn't have any trouble approaching the enemy, nor even of seizing it in its claws. Thinking it was a superior predator, the scorpid had clamped down with each pincer, a tactic which usually broke its victims as the hard claws squashed something vital. Sometimes an adjustment in position was required. This prey seemed weak. Though, and did not struggle. It had died?

The arrival of several more of it's kind was a good surpise.

The scorpid was confused when suddenly it smelled something different. The prey in it's claws was moving. Not struggling or thrashing. Changing. Growing? Pops and squelching sounds, grinding, happened too fast to really register, and then the scorpid was holding a prey that was many times larger than itself.

The scorpid struck with its tail instinctively. The venom-weapon was one that was used when prey was stronger than the scorpid, or when the scorpid was threatened. It knew now that both were true. The tail struck several times, but had no effect. The thick fur could barely be penetrated. The scorpid suddenly realized that it was the prey. It released Kerala and tried to flee.

The transformation into an animal was still shocking: the sensation of a body shifting, physically changing, the new body so foreign, yet not, and the flood of senses not one's own, dulled or heightened from normal. The instincts, however, were a perfect match with what Kerala wanted. Right. Now. She was angry, and she wanted to fight. She wanted to kill.

Five more scorpids had been herded in.. The original small one was still the smallest, and it was without a doubt trying to run away. The others were angry and ready to fight. Two of the beasts were larger than the one she'd killed in her natural shape.

Kerala-bear roared challenge to the universe. She rocked back onto her hind paws to stand at her full height, mouth opened wide to bare teeth as she roared again.

The scorpids, all entering from the same place, were conveniently still grouped together. Kerala-bear didn't wait for them to come to her. She dropped to her paws and charged. When she reached the scorpids she swiped with a great paw as she barreled into the closest one. Her long claws were wickedly sharp, but it was the force of the blow that mattered. She was incredibly strong, and though she hit the armored plates and tough pincers of the scorpids, she still did damage.

She hit three of them.

The first was completely unprepared and her strike passed over claws that were too low to protect it. Kerala-bear's claws ripped its face. One eye popped, two nostrils were torn to become one large ugly hole, and four bloddy slashes carved deep. One of it's mandibles tore cleanly off. The scorpid tried to strike with its tail too late, hitting empty air.

The second scorpid fared slightly better. It managed to have its claws ready. Closer than the first scorpid, this one received the full weight behind Kerala-bear's attack. CLACKACK!Her paw smashed into the waiting claw and slapped it against the other. The force caused both appendages to whip violently sideways, flipping the scorpid off it's many legs to spin a quarter of a turn. Both claws cracked where they had collided.

The third scorpid was her primary goal It, too, was somewhat prepared, but it had vastly misjudged the creature coming at it. The largest of the scorpids, Kerala-bear was larger still. The swing of her great arm completed its travel right as she collided with this, her target. She barreled straight into its waiting claws, and as it tried to close the crunching weapons, Kerala-bear's weight transferred. The claws were carried backwards into the scorpid's face as her bulk careened into it. The venomed tail struck her shoulder, the stinger biting into flesh. Kerala-bear brought her arms together in a great hug around the scorpid's body as it was pushed backwards. She fell on the creature, it's tail suddenly ripped free of her as they landed. She squeezed, aware vaguely that the scorpid was doing the same thing with its pincers. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and then there a creaking sound. Kerala-bear increased the pressure, bearing down against the ground.

CROONSHPLATCH!!

The scorpid's exoskeleton shattered. It's crumpled suddenly in her embrace, the gooey insides squirting out in all directions. She immediately released the crushed shell, her arms and chest now covered in brown-gray, pink and red gore. It stunk.

The two wounded scorpids were on her left. Beside them was a fourth scorpid that her swipe hadn't reached, and to her right was another undamaged beast a shade darker than the rest, the splotches of it's patterned shell more numerous. An older animal? It stood in a defensive posture, claws wide and tail poised.

Kerala-bear regained her feet and approached the sideways scorpid. It had found it's feet again as well, but it used them to back away. It' s head was down and tail arched up over it's back menacingly, but the claws were ruined. One arm was completely limp. The pincer on that side was only cracked, but there was vital goo leaking from the joints of appendage that held it. The other arm was up, weapon held between the scorpid and Kerala-bear, but the gesture was futile. That pincer was slack, the bottom half limp and fallen open.

Kerala-bear advanced, almost lumbering leisurely. The healthy scorpid nearby approached, but she side-stepped. The wounded scorpid hissed at her, backing away. She kept after it slowly, continuing to circle until the healthy beast was directly opposite. Then she reared up on her hind paws and slowly advanced, causing the scorpid between them to retreat. It backed to its companion, who hissed at it, and she did not hesitate.

She closed the distance in a few strides and was on them. She ran right over the distracted and disabled creature, her jaws around the tail before it even reacted. She was reaching for the other scorpid with her front paws, leaping at it. She pushed off the scorpid beneath her, her jaws tearing the segmented tail free at the weakest joint. Her leap was unsuccessful, but her reach was good. She gouged deep ruts in the remaining scorpid's armor before it clamped her arm in a pincer claw. Her hind paw was cut where it had slipped on the angled plates of the scorpid she stood on, the reason her jump had gone awry.

The scorpid began crushing her arm, and Kerala-bear reacted. She dropped the tail in her mouth and yanked her limb back, dragging the scorpid with it. It struck at her, stinging the arm that it held now in both claws. The first strike was true, and its stinger pierced her arm, spreading its liquid fire. Kerala-bear was angry, and yet this enraged her yet more. She brought her captured arm in close, her jaw closing on that painful stinger. She bit down as she reared back and then lunged against the ground, using weight and gravity to aid her. She smashed the scorpid against the ground. Her captured arm was jarred painfully, but the scorpid wasn't faring well either.

With it's claws occupied and tail disabled, Kerala-bear essentially had the opportunity to do anything she wanted to it. Her jaws could not crush the stinger, but in a moment it did not matter. She repeatedly lifted and threw the creature against the ground, putting her great weight behind the throw each time. A scorpid was not made to be hurled vertically and smashed. Eventually, the exoskeleton failed in several places. The scorpid compressed like a series of nested baskets, the larger plates along its back and belly sliding back over the plates behind and beneath them. The scorpid literally folded on itself as it was crushed. The pincers on Kerala-bear's arm loosened as the creature died.

Two of the six scorpids remained unharmed, the runt and the elder splotchy beast.

The scorpid she'd defaced was still stunned. Kerala-bear came at it from behind, limping. She captured the tail easily in her jaws and clambered on the scorpid's back over the long appendage. It was a strong scorpid, powerful enough to suddenly scurry in a panic even beneath her bulk, taking her for an erratic ride. The tail twitched violently beneath her, trying to throw her off and probably stab her. She held on for a moment, adjusting to the motion, riding the thing. Did it know that its death was up there, riding on it's back?

She released the tail from her mouth. She sat back on her haunches, putting both front paws against the tail jutting beneath her. She pushed once, hard. The stinger pierced the scorpid in the softer shell joint behind the plate-armor of the head. She felt the stinger sink in and pulse under her paws as it injected the poison. The scorpid continued it's panicked flight for a moment longer, and then suddenly it collapsed. The thing fell headlong into the dirt, wedging in a sudden stop that threw Kerala-bear tumbling off into a roll. She came up quickly, looking for the other two scorpids.

They were gone.

Kerala-bear stared around her for a moment, then turned a full circle. The Magram were done with this event. She huffed in frustration, glaring around. The spectators surrounding her were quiet, waiting. Waiting to see if she'd turn on them in anger, as had happened many times in the past.

Waiting to see what sort of condition she was in.

She glanced around at the centaur again. The urge to attack them had come and gone like a breeze under the sun today, born and smothered in the same instant. Combat was over. She'd won again.

Hadn't she?

Kerala-bear blinked at the annoying specs floating in front of her face. She snorted in irritation when the spots did not clear, but grew brighter. She growled at a growing discomfort she felt. She hurt. The swirling fog blocking her sight irritated her. Kerala-bear jerked her muzzle, mouth open and teeth bared, trying to bite it. She felt fire everywhere. Agony that radiated from her left shoulder and front leg and back, pulsing with each heartbeat. Beneath the fire was a solid pain in that front right leg. She blew air through her snout, licked the wound. It tasted bad. And then darkness swallowed Kerala-bear.

Standing with her head lowered to her leg, the bear suddenly tilted. The wounded limb had collapsed, and she stood for a moment with her face pressed into the dirt awkwardly. Then the rest of her, ever so slowly, followed. The bear flopped into the dirt with a soft thud. She lay panting, breathing in quick shallow gasps. Her eyes were half-closed, rolled back in her head.

Magram centaur slowly closed in around the bear.

(Superstition, fear and jealousy)

Dead I am the one, exterminating sun Slipping through the trees, strangling the breeze Dead I am the sky, watching angels cry While they slowly turn, conquering the worm

[chorus]Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula! [x2]

Dead I am the pool, spreading from the fool Weak and what you need, nowhere as you bleed Dead I am the rat, feast upon the cat Tender is the fur, dying as you purr

Do it baby, do it baby Do it baby, do it baby Burn like an animal

Dead I am the life, dig into the skin Knuckle crack the bone, twenty one to win Dead I am the dog, hound of hell you cry Devil on your back, I can never die

Soquili made his way through the camp to the mines. He passed the slave pens, noticing that one of the slaves was sleeping with his arm fallen through the spear wall. He stepped on the offending wrist as he passed.

The man screamed as Soquili felt bones crunch beneath his hoof. The centaur guard nearest automatically jabbed at the man's head with the butt of his weapon, silencing him with unconsciousness. Then he realized why the man had caused a commotion and scowled.

“You've ruined him! He's not fit to work the mines anymore, clod-foot.”

Soquili just shrugged and jerked his chin toward the fire pits, where a few other prisoners were cooking already. The guard cursed at him as he continued up the hill the the mines.

The two guards flanking the caged tunnel looked bored. She apparently no longer tested the cage all the time, or threw rocks out of the tunnel. Soquili knew their shifts were now drawn by lot or assigned to losers of bets. He frowned.

“Time to feed Rage-Horn,” he said simply. The guards snapped to attention, drawing weapons. One cautiously peered through the cage door and, seeing nothing, nodded to the other. The fastenings were undone and the door was opened. The larger guard stepped up to the opening with weapon ready, even though they'd already checked once. The other guard stood ready with a net. In the past Rage-Horn had laid traps for them, attacking from the shadows. She had even tried flying awkwardly from the tunnel, hence the net.

Seeing no threat or attempt at escape, the guards nodded to Soquili. He stepped up to the tunnel entrance as the guard stepped back slightly, their flanks touching. It was cramped, but he knew the guard would not chance giving him more room. He quickly spotted a small pouch on the ground of the tunnel, and bent to pick it up. Inside, he frowned at two small opal gems.

He made a show of inspecting the pouch, and even grumbling. Soquili dropped the pack he had been carrying. He rumaged about in it and withdrew some skewers of fresh meat.

Inside the pack were the same supplies that were always brought: meat both fresh and dried, a skin of water, dried fire discs. In this pack was also something he had found during a raid- a small ball that glowed brightly. He had wrapped it in cloth and stuffed it down to the bottom of the pack, knowing an item like that should not be given to a slave. Nor, he knew, should there be as much food in this pack as there was.

Soquili straightened with the gem pouch and meat skewers in hand. He backed from the tunnel and waited while the guards refastened the entrance. Once done, they stared at him, and he held the two meat skewers to them.

“No gems, no food!” And Soquili showed them the two tiny opals in the pouch. They grinned, happy enough to have an extra ration. They bit into the meat eagerly, and as they ate, Soquili asked them about their shift. He was not surprised to find that it had been uneventful, and he took his leave of them.

Two gems.

Soquili recalled the last fight Rage-Hornd had been in, versus two basilisks, and then a raging thunder lizard. It was a match akin to many that he'd seen her fight, but this had not been the Rage-Horn he'd known. She had won, but not without suffering one paw completely stiffened, and numerous burns and scorch marks. The centaur had loved it, the match being unpredictable and therefore more of a gamble. Soquili saw only that Rage-Horn was dying.

Her eyes. It had been her eyes, he thought. Not full of her legendary anger and hate. Empty. Dull.

Everyone knew that mine-slaves were the ones who were the quickest to die. Worked all day, fed as they were, it wasn't long before they were deemed unable to work, and thus ended up on the fire spits sooner than those who were fed more and kept still. Rage-Horn wasn't even allowed out of the tunnel, though. Out of sight, Soquili suspected that often she was forgotten until the urge to see a fight.

He wondered if the rations he had given her were enough.

His packhound ate more. Rage-Horn would have been a better raiding pet than this new beast. It had shit twice on his bed. It liked to fight with the other hounds in the pack he led. Stupid beast. He kept it chained outside the tent at night. His old beast had died, ironically to one of Rage-Horn's kind. It had saved his life at the cost of its own.

Soquili couldn't help but think of his proving-match against Rage-Horn. It had been common before the decision to send her to the mines for young Magram to use her as their test to prove readiness as a member of patrols or a raiding party. With so much supervision, it was relatively safe, and yet a very adequate challenge to perform. Occassionally, Magram still died to her claws, and that made a proving-match just as entertaining as any other fight.

Soquili knew that he had been over-matched the minute they had clashed. He should have died, and he was not sure why he had not. Oh, she had given him a beating. She had most definitely vented herself on the target available. But then Soquili was certain that her fatigue had been feigned. That she overplayed the effect of his attacks. That she'd deliberately left him the opening. It had been strange, but at the time Soquili had only been grateful to have won. Only later had he thought of the fight and the discrepancies in it.

He was fond of the rage-Horn.

He eyed the two small opals in his hand, concerned. He knew that she deliberately withheld gems once she'd realized that while gems were a requirement of getting fed, more gems did not mean more food was given. Still, this was not the amount she normally would have given.

He wondered if the mine was depleted finally. He wondered if she was testing them again, seeing if they would still provide the same amount of food for less. He thought of her dull eyes, and decided that there was no guile in this. It was odd, the feeling he got then.

It was not unlike the feeling he experienced when losing the faithful hound.

Soquili palmed the gems, then, and made his way back to his own tent. The young packhound was not there chained outside. It had chewed the bottom off the hide wall and he could see a hole dug beneath the ragged edge. Insolent beast!

Soquili entered the tent to find the packhound sleeping with the rest, its chain stretched as far as possible to allow this, and the other hounds not quite in their customary sleeping places. He briefly considered yanking the beast back through the wall by its chain, and then shortening the length. The tightening of his fists made the opals dig into his palm.

He thought of Rage-Horn, and the faithful hound which this runt replaced.

He stepped up to the sleeping hounds, noting that a few of them watched him calmly. He quietly unfastened the chain from his newest hound, and left it sleeping. He went to his bed, but decided that he didn't feel like laying down tonight. Instead, he stood with his arms crossed, head bowed. He watched his sleeping pack for a while, curled up on and over each other, and then at some point his eyes closed and he slept.

We don’t want them, We want everything And we’ve stolen, in this suffering And we’ve told them To want everything But use caution, in what you believe And the haunted Deny everything Controlling, in this suffering When they’re broken And lost everything They’re so much easier to lead Take their hope away Take their life away Leave them nothing left inside

[chorus] When your own have died When there’s no more pride When your soul is frozen Is that enough? When your heart is broken A thousand times With every moment Is that enough?

(Without warning We take everything)

Without warning We take everything Undaunted, in this suffering The dark forces Surround everything And make it impossible to see Take their hope away Take their life away Leave them nothing left inside

[Chorus]

Haven’t they suffered enough? Haven’t we suffered enough? Haven’t they suffered enough, The damage more than they can bare Haven’t they suffered enough? Haven’t we suffered enough? Haven’t they suffered enough, The damage more than I can bare

Did they even have a reason why Countless sons and daughters had to die Can you even comprehend the pain Tell me

Lomani raised her head, neck aching. She looked up at the ceiling, stretching it. No longer bent over her work, she was surprised at how stiff she was. Lowering her head, she decided that she'd done enough for one night.

She regarded the enormous expanse of stitched hide covering her lap, contemplating the best way to extract herself. Really, she should have done this outdoors. Who sewed a tent inside, honestly? Well, apparently she did, and now she'd have to deal with the consequences of not thinking that through. After a minute of inspecting her handiwork, she decided that it would not harm the hides to walk on them. After all, the walls of a tent had to hold up to the elements. Surely a couple hooves would not damage anything.

She worried overmuch. Her work was really all she had. She was good at this. Sewing seemed simple, at the outset, but it took real skill to assemble random pieces of cloth into a garment. A skill that she seemed to have.

Lomani loved sewing, and she kept busy doing that as much as possible. Perhaps she was avoiding the Seers, but there really was a lot of work to be done. Tents needed mending, clothes repaired. New clothes made. The hunters and farmers needed a constant supply of sacks to replace the ones they wore out. Sleeping mats needed to be made. Blankets woven. When there was nothing to create, there were supplies to make. Cloth was woven from fibers, and those had to be spun from materials gathered from plants or animals. There was a lot to do, truly.

She rose from her seat on the storage basket, scooting out from under the many stiff folds of tent-wall. She lay the hides back down and then carefully stepped onto them. Her tent was a larger one, but still this project occupied most of the space she had. Her fires were burning low. She'd have had to stop soon anyway, or refuel them.

Lomani made sure the tent wasn't lying too close to an open flame, then she turned to her own tent flap and pushed through it. The lightening sky outside surprised her. Surely she hadn't worked all night? She rubbed her neck, comparing the amount of pain she felt there to the amount of time it might have taken to cause. Finally she shrugged, unable to refuse the evidence. She'd been stitching through the night.

Lomani bent beside the water basin she shared with her neighbor. The water rippled slightly as she touched the carved bowl, but the image of her face reflected there was clear enough. Sleek gray fur shone with a dim flickering light of her fires shining from inside. She had green eyes. Her long hair was braided into elegant ropes draping back behind her neck to connect with her mane into one large braid down her back. The face looking back at her was angled to the left, favoring the weight of the remaining horn. Jagged points peeking out from the shorter hair of her mane were all that remained of her right horn.

She was still not used to this stranger that stared back at her. It wasn't her. At least, it wasn't a reflection she recognized. Like everything else, the knowledge of what she looked like was lost in mystery. She was adapting to the emptiness where memory should be, but it was still hard. The instinct that she was missing something vitally important nagged her constantly, and she had no way of knowing if it was just because she lacked a lifetime of experiences to recall, or if it was because those experiences she lacked were important.

She sighed, unwilling to let her thoughts return to that well-worn track. Lomani bent and splashed water into her face. She sipped some from her hands, and rubbed cooled fingers through the fur of her neck to massage sore muscles. After a while, she returned inside and stepped over the tent spread across the whole floor. She pushed it out of the corner long enough to locate her sleeping mat, then pulled it with her blanket up over shoulders.

She closed her eyes and let dreamless sleep take her.

And it's been awhileSince I could hold my head up highAnd it's been awhileSince I first saw youAnd it's been awhileSince I could stand on my own two feet againAnd it's been awhileSince I could call you

And everything I can't rememberAs fucked up as it all may seemThe consequences that I've renderedI've stretched myself beyond my means

And it's been awhileSince I can say that I wasn't addictedAnd it's been awhileSince I can say I love myself as wellAnd it's been awhileSince I've gone and fucked things up just like I always doAnd it's been awhileBut all that shit seems to disappear when I'm with you

And everything I can't rememberAs fucked up as it all may seemThe consequences that I've renderedI've gone and fucked things up again

Why must I feel this way?Just make this go awayJust one more peaceful day!

And it's been awhileSince I could look at myself straightAnd it's been awhileSince I said I'm sorryAnd it's been awhileSince I've seen the way the candles light your faceAnd it's been awhileBut I can still remember just the way you taste

And everything I can't rememberAs fucked up as it all may seem to be I know it's meI cannot blame this on my fatherHe did the best he could for me

And it's been awhileSince I could hold my head up highAnd it's been awhileSince I said I'm sorry

Aziris stared at the snow falling outside her window. She stayed inside most of the time now, working with the apothecaries as she had never thought possible... before. She remembered a time when the snow had been such a new and exciting thing. Had been fun.

But that was before.

Aziris still wore the new robes that she'd been given. She couldn't bring herself to throw them away. She didn't look THAT different from the other Apothecaries working here. Most of them chose black, true, but her robes were partially black. The white under-dress could mostly be concealed if she wrapped the embroidered black robe tighter. The velvety green jacket was just part of the outfit she refused to part with. Her favorite part. Her favorite color.

The clothes were of the right quality for working in a position such as this, and so if anyone noticed the way she dressed, it was never put to words. She was too good at her job.

She still carried the note that she'd written to her friend so long ago. Unopened, the envelope was wrinkled now and worn, but still intact. She couldn't throw that away either, not into the empty casket, and not into the hungry bite of a flame either.

The letter was an apology to her friend. An apology for failure, for other things. For being unable to prevent death even though she herself had escaped it. Aziris couldn't even truly remember the words she'd used now, she just knew the emotions that had sparked them into being.

It was days like this that rekindled the ember of those feelings. Aziris turned away from the window and moved to a room without one, willing the ember to die.

She worked better that way.

Looking back at me I see that I never really got it right I never stopped to think of you, I'm always wrapped up in things I cannot win You are the antidote that gets me by, Something strong like a drug that gets me high

[chorus]What I really meant to say Is I'm sorry for the way I am I never meant to be so cold Never meant to be so

To you, I'm sorry about all the lies, Maybe in a different light, You can see me stand on my own again Cause now I can see You are the antidote that got me by, Something strong like a drug that got me high

[chorus]

I never meant to be, so cold

I never really wanted you to see The screwed-up side of me That I keep locked inside of me so deep, It always seems to get to me I never really wanted you to go So many things you should have known I guess for me there's just no hope; I never meant to be so cold

It was dark, she knew that much. She couldn't move- that she also knew. She hurt, but not from anything specific that she could identify anymore. Her world was formless, shapeless, just like her thoughts. The darkness did nothing to stop the random things she saw. She blinked at nothing, and in the nothingness the black formed a familiar face.

Da.

This was another vision, then. Had she fallen asleep? Despite her uncertainty in almost everything else, she recalled that her father was dead. This could not be real. She had not actually battled the centaur, had not been overwhelmed. She was not currently smothered in a mountain of corpses...

Memory flashed.

Panic. Trapped. Gasping for air. Stinking centaur fur pressed on her face. It was too much. She'd raked the bodies from atop her only to have more replace them, until she was buried. Unable to move. Darkness all around. She hadn't been quick enough. Strong enough. But it hadn't been real.

The shapelessness she recognized as her father spoke soundlessly, his face filled with sternness. A reprimand? This hurt Kerala deeply.

I'm doing my best, Da. I'm being strong, like you said. I will not die.

He smiled at her, seeming satisfied. He stood there talking to her calmly about something. Eventually he melted, the details rearranging. His horns shrank, his bulk faded away to leave the impression of a smaller figure.

Agiga.

Her twin sister was a more common theme in her dreams. Kerala could not count the times she had envisioned her sister rescuing her. Agiga spoke also, the silence eery. She held her hands up, as if telling Kerala to wait, or maybe reassuring her. Her expression was one of worry, and she turned as if to look behind her, as if speaking to someone Kerala could not see. She seemed frantic, hurried. She continued trying to tell Kerala something.

It's ok. I'll survive. I'll wait here for you.

She told the visions this, as she continually told herself. She wasn't sure why she struggled anymore, only that she did. The fight to live was the only constant. She'd always done it, so she'd continue. It was getting harder. Her wounds were adding up, not healing as they should. The opals she was supposed to be mining were harder to find, which meant she earned less food. An illness or infection had taken root within her, another enemy to fight. Still, she would beat it. She would survive.

Somehow.

On the ground I layMotionless in painI can see my life flashing before my eyesDid I fall asleepIs this all a dream?Wake me upI'm living a nightmare

I will not die (I will not die)I will survive

[Chorus]I will not die; I'll wait here for youI feel alive when you're beside meI will not die; I'll wait here for youIn my time of dying

On this bed I layLosing everythingI can see my life passing me byWas it all too muchOr just not enough?Wake me upI'm living a nightmare

“You act like I had a choice. I didn't. But if I did, it would be you that I chose. Will you please look at me? I know you don't think so, but you are beautiful. Yes! Yes you are. I don't care about your scars. I don't care about what you had to do to survive. I care about you. I lo-”

“I will wait here. I can't change how I feel, but maybe how you feel will change. I want- ah. I want you to want me. Too. I know I don't make sense. I know you do, Kerala, but I have no doubts. None. I know my heart. If you have to leave to find the truth of yours, then go. I'll be here.”

“I will not return to this place.”

“Maybe you're wrong. I hope you are. I'll be here. You're all that I've got, Kerala. I hope you find what you're looking for.”

“Good-bye, Forestwhisper.”

“Good-bye....I love you.”

I am a little bit of loneliness, a little bit of disregardHandful of complaints but I can't help the factThat everyone can see these scarsI am what I want you to want, what I want you to feelBut it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince youTo just believe this is realSo, let go watching you turn your back like you always doFace away and pretend I'm notBut I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got

[Chorus]I can't feel the way I did beforeDon't turn your back on meI won't be ignoredTime won't heal this damage anymoreDon't turn your back on me I won't be ignored

I am, a little bit insecure, a little unconfident'Cause you don't understand I do what I canBut sometimes I don't make senseI am, what you never want to say, but I've never had a doubtIt's like no matter what I do I can't convince you for once just to hear me outSo, let go watching you turn your back like you always doYou face away and pretend I'm notBut I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got

[Chorus]

You hear me out nowYou're gonna listen to me like it or notRight now, hear me out nowYou're gonna listen to me like it or notRight now

Stars twinkled overhead. Fireflies flickered like tiny earthbound stars floating through their own universe above the tall grasses. Insects buzzed, the sound invasive but not unpleasant. Their noise ebbed and swelled like a natural symphony. Mu'sha was absent tonight, her fiery brother having chased her through the daylight hours.

It was a landscape akin to a paradise, in Uyohus' mind, and not just because he sat gazing at it with his mate. Wadulisi watched the fireflies, content with the silence between them. She was cuddled beneath him arm, lying warm against him.

The peaceful scene contrasted with the tumultuous thoughts crashing through his mind. Excitement was almost a palpable thing for him. Times were changing!

His people were beleaguered and travel-sore, set upon constantly by the centaur who hunted them. They weathered as they always had, still sung songs and enjoyed the hunt, but Uyohus knew things were dire. The tauren were always a nomadic folk, Staying on the move to try and avoid their nemeses was a skill they had much practice at. They were strong fighters, skilled healers and trackers. But they were outnumbered.

Uyohus was excited because the Longwalkers brought news of a unique chieftain. The messengers claimed that he was trying to bring all the varied tribes together, to unite their scattered people in order to fight as one against the centaur threat. Uyohus had no great skill in the hunt, but even he knew the strength of a pack over an animal acting alone. He wished very much to see this mighty gathering of Shu'halo.

Change was happening in his personal world as well. Wadulisi had married him. His mate now and for always, Uyohus had a chance at a real family. He had someone to protect, someone that loved him that he could share his life with. He'd never really dreamed before that he'd want such a thing. If everyone could have the same, he was certain the evils in the world would wither and die. He wanted to get up and run and yell. He wanted to sing out his current joy.

Instead, he put his hand beneath Wadulisi's chin and gently lifted her face to his for a kiss. She let him kiss her for a moment, and then she kissed him back, pushing off his leg to sit herself up straighter. She rose to her knees before him, her hands freed of weight. She pushed thick fingers into his mane, pulling him closer. He put his arms around her waist instead and led them sideways into the grass.

Finally she had to break away for a breath of air. She smiled at him. Her golden eyes reflected the tiny points of light around and above them. How blessed was he?

Uyohus made love to his new mate in grasses, endeavoring to demonstrate how much he loved her.

Yes, he was certain that if everyone could love and share like this, the world would be a wonderful place.

From underneath the trees, we watch the skyConfusing stars for satellitesI never dreamed that you'd be mineBut here we are, we're here tonight

Singing A Amen, I I'm alive (I'm alive)Singing Amen, I'm alive

[chorus]If everyone cared and nobody criedIf everyone loved and nobody liedIf everyone shared and swallowed their prideThen we'd see the day when nobody diedAnd I'm singing

A Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm aliveAmen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive

And in the air the firefliesOur only light in paradiseWe'll show the world they were wrongAnd teach them all to sing along

Singing A Men, I, I'm alive (I'm alive)Singing Amen, I, I'm alive

If everyone cared and nobody criedIf everyone loved and nobody liedIf everyone shared and swallowed their prideThen we'd see the day when nobody died[x2]

And as we lie beneath the starsWe realize how small we areIf they could love like you and meImagine what the world could be

If everyone cared and nobody criedIf everyone loved and nobody liedIf everyone shared and swallowed their prideThen we'd see the day when nobody died[x2]

We'd see the day, we'd see the dayWhen nobody diedWe'd see the day, we'd see the dayWhen nobody diedWe'd see the day when nobody died